Haunted
by Iali10
Summary: Dipper and Mabel Pines had never managed to fit in at school and their weird reputation proceeded them, so the only friends they'd ever had were each other. Their parents decide to give them a fresh chance at making friends by moving the family to Gravity Falls to live in their Grandpa Shermie's cabin that he never managed to sell. Billdip, Nate/Mabel. Genderqueer Dipper.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So, I made plans over a year ago to expand on the Beetlejuice drabble I did for my collection, and here it finally is! I was randomly inspired to write the entire chapter in a single day so I'm gifting it you fans. This is less a parody and more like a fanfic inspired by the original movie. Oh, on another note this fic will probably be slow to update- sorry guys!

Edit: I added Genderqueer Dipper to the summary to avoid surprising anyone.

* * *

It was often speculated that the Pines twins were just odd. That observation followed them as whispers behind their backs, hissed between their peers with sneers on their faces. They stuck out among other kids- too loud, too childish, too weird for everyone else to handle.

It must be a creepy twin thing people would say to each other.

What was fact was that Dipper and Mabel Pines both had overactive had been evident since they were toddlers; their games of pretend could last weeks and leave playful destruction in their wake. If one of them gained a belief- say, that the neighbor's dog was actually a man trapped in a dog's body- the other would absorb and then defend this belief with everything they had. It was relatively harmless, even if they spent a few years dressing the neighbor's dog to 'preserve his dignity.'

No one could keep up with their games; even their parents just weathered the storm with indulgent smiles. The children who tried would find themselves quickly confused and left in the dust as Dipper and Mabel rushed forward in their adventures. It wasn't long before the other kids stopped trying to join in and their pretend worlds were just an exclusive twin thing.

Disinterest quickly turned into dislike.

Their teachers either loved or hated them and the notes on their report cards got less and less fond as they grew up; they were labeled as disturbances in the classroom and were noted for not getting along with other students. A common concern was their lack of focus on the lessons as they passed notes to each other in codes, even when seated on opposite sides of the room. Their teachers were fed up and vocal about it.

So their parents, rather than firmly put their foot down about such things, decided to direct their creative energy elsewhere.

Mabel took to arts and crafts like a fish to water. There were no limits placed on her, so she created explosions of color and glitter and whatever else struck her fancy. She could make whatever mess she needed to in the moment as long as she helped to clean it all up afterwards. It was like a giant party whenever she was struck by inspiration.

Dipper had less of an easy time; his self-critical attitude made crafting more stressful than relaxing. His efforts always felt inadequate in comparison to his sister's explosions of art and he would shy away from the activity. His parents encouraged him to pursue different avenues of expression with degrees of success and failure, but Dipper eventually found sanctuary in books.

Fantasy, science-fiction, murder-mysteries, non-fiction; he read it all with avid interest. It did little to help when it came to interacting with his peers- in fact, Dipper had only become more awkward and paranoid. He had already been shy due to being teased and bullied in school over his his birthmark, but his interest in conspiracies and cryptids further widened the gap between him and other students.

His teachers had little to complain about as his schoolwork improved dramatically.

In the end, Mabel and Dipper remained inseparable through the years, even as the other kids took more of an interest in Mabel. She was seen more as fun and zany (though still too childish for a highschooler), and there had been efforts made to befriend her but they all failed.

For you see, while Mabel was quick to forgive those who had hurt her, she was completely unforgiving of those who had hurt her twin. Any who attempted to exclude or insult Dipper as he sat next to her were sent packing, sometimes violently.

After the cafeteria 'fite me' incident of their sophmore year, their parents decided it was best to give the kids a fresh start at a new school in hopes they'd be able to make friends- or at least make it through the year without getting into a fight.

("Mabel, those self-defense classes weren't so you could break the nose of a school bully-")

The announcement was met with mixed feelings; while it was true that they weren't leaving any friends behind it wasn't as if they had much to look forward in a new town they knew nothing about. They could find little about Gravity Falls, Oregon, online except for it's position on a map and that it had less than 200 citizens. Grandpa Shermie had owned a bit of property there that he didn't use but had been unable to sell for years and he was tired of paying to upkeep the place. He had been all too happy to hand over the deed for next to nothing. When asked, Grandpa Shermie admitted he hadn't spent much time in the town but had found it quaint and peaceful.

Dipper and Mabel had shared a frown at that. Small town life didn't really appeal to a couple of city kids, but they couldn't find it in themselves to fight against their parents when they were only looking out for them. It didn't mean they were happy about it though.

So, at the end of the school year they packed up their life in Piedmont and made the 10 hour drive to Gravity Falls.

The cabin was a lot bigger than their old house, which meant that the twins would finally have separate bedrooms. (That was a definite plus to both of them because as much as they loved each other, sharing a bedroom through puberty had been awkward). Not to mention that the backyard was endless seeing as the property as located outside the town in the woods; they could explore and hike to their hearts content.

Still, Dipper eyed the house unhappily. The outside looked a bit rough to the point that he was more comfortable calling it a shack than a cabin, going past the point of being rustic and looking rundown. If it wasn't for the fact that it was given to them by their grandfather he would start worrying that his parents had been taken advantage of.

"Dipper, hunny," his mother, Anna, called out to him, "can you take this box to the kitchen?" She hefted up a box marked fragile and labeled 'kitchen' in her slanted handwriting.

"Sure thing, mom," he replied, walking up to her and accepting the box from her with a sigh.

She pressed a kiss against his cheek, leaving a pale pink lipstick stain behind. "Cheer up, sweetie, things are going to turn out great," she assured with a smile and reached up to swipe most of the lipstick off with her thumb. "Having a positive attitude will get you far in life; who knows what you'll miss if you're always looking down at the ground instead of what's in front of you."

Dipper forced a small smile. "I'll try to."

"That's all I ask." Her eyes crinkled with the width of her smile. "The kitchen should be in the back on the right. Don't trip going up the step," she added, referring to the porch steps.

"You should be telling Mabel that," Dipper grumbled, rolling his eyes good-naturedly, and began walking towards the house.

(Mabel usually moved about with a fair amount of grace, but that went out the window the moment she was excited about something. Then she was more like a stampeding elephant who didn't watch where they stepped; sometimes her acts of clumsiness defied logic and became something of family legend. Even she wasn't sure how she managed to send the fishtank flying out the window, though she found it just as funny as everyone else- but only after they managed to rescue their poor goldfish.)

"I already did," Anna called back with snort of amusement.

Dipper made a show of carefully walking up the step and passed his dad and sister in a friendly argument about how to fit the couch through the front door. The inside of the house was in a lot better shape than the outside and Dipper had to wonder how Grandpa Shermie had been unable to sell the house before now.

The dark hardwood floors were nearly scuff free and they contrasted nicely with the pale color of the walls. All the rooms seemed pretty spacious as well, though Dipper had to frown at the awful carpet in the room passed the front room it was hardly a deal breaker- a little bit of elbow grease and it'd be replaced. The kitchen was a bit small but, considering all the space in the house, it could easily be expanded if needed.

Dipper placed the box he was carrying on the counter and eyed the room. He was sure that Grandpa Shermie would warn them if there were any serious issues with the house, but he still found the fact that no one had wanted to buy the house before them incredibly suspicious. No, he told himself with a shake of his head, he was just being paranoid again. His energy should be focused towards unpacking- he can worry about this mystery later.

He had only taken two steps outside the kitchen when he heard a crash. The noise sent his heart racing and he jumped like a startled cat. It took a second for the adrenaline burst to pass before he thought to turn around and look in the room he had just left.

The box he had just put down was now toppled on the floor next to the counter, still sealed shut.

Dipper wrinkled his brow; had he really left the box that close to the edge, he wondered, but it was pushed to the back of his mind. He could only hope the dishes had been wrapped well and hadn't broken. Walking back into the room, he righted the box but didn't set it on the counter again not wanting to tempt fate. It was hardly the first time he had misjudged distance when he was distracted but he felt less embarrassed this time and more unsettled.

Shaking the feeling off as best he can, he shoved the box against the wall to keep anyone from tripping on it and then walked away to continue unpacking. If he just so happened to speedwalk, pulse thumping in his throat, well that was no one's business but his own.

(line break)

They managed to get half of the moving truck unpacked before it got dark, though the rest would have to wait until morning. For dinner, they picked up pizza from Hoo-Ha Owl's Pizzamatronic Jamboree in the mall to eat as they sat on the floor. The dining table and chairs would be delivered the next day, along with most of the large furniture and beds.

Tonight they would be sleeping on the fold out beds from the two couches they had brought along so they wouldn't have to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags. The evening was spent moving boxes to different rooms where they belonged; either going upstairs to the bedrooms or one of the rooms downstairs. Their parents gave Mabel the parlor as her art studio and claimed the smaller room as an office- but the rest was still up in the air. Most of the boxes ended up in the largest room in the back.

Dipper still couldn't shake his uneasiness, feeling very much like he was being watched as he moved through the house. Several times he could swear he heard a voice or even footsteps outside the room, but every time he looked the halls were empty. It was driving him up the wall.

Of course Mabel noticed he was tense all day but she waited until they were setting up the fold out couches to bring it up.

"What's bothering you, bro," she asked as she tucked the sheets around the thin mattress.

Dipper blinked and paused in the middle of tucking in his side, hands still under the mattress, to look at his twin. "What?"

"You've been acting weird all day," she pointed out and cocked her head. "Did you think I wouldn't notice? Come on! Who knows you better than I do? No one, that's who." Her tone was firm as if she was warning him not argue on that point. She climbed on to the bed to get in her 'serious listening pose'- legs folded into a pretzel and elbows planted on her knees to hold her head up. "So, what's up, broseph?"

"Well," he began only to trail off. To stall, he made a show of fixing his side of the bed and entertained the thought of blowing her off for a half a second, but that'd only make Mabel upset. Heaving a sigh, he looked around the room to make sure their parents weren't listening in and leaned closer as if to impart a secret.

Mabel also leaned forward.

"I think the house might be," Dipper grimaced, "haunted?"

A beat of silence and then-

"What?!" Mabel blew a loud raspberry, looking both relieved and annoyed, and relaxed out of her serious pose. "I thought it was something serious," she added with a giggle.

"Mabel, I am being serious," he hissed back, running his fingers through his hair in a fiftul motion. "I swear something is moving boxes around while I'm not looking and I feel like I'm constantly being watched!"

"Watched?" A heavy pause and her eyes darted to the side, a grimace crossing her face for a second.

Dipper's eyes widened. "You felt it, too?"

"No way," Mabel scoffed and waved her arms in denial. "This house is just old and creepy and our brains are just psyching us out. Besides, mom and dad probably moved those boxes around, Dipper. Nothing to get all paranoid over," she denied firmly though she still looked a bit uncomfortable.

"What about the footsteps- the voice I keep hearing?" He slapped his hand on the bed. "It was a man's voice and it definitely wasn't dad."

Mabel scrunched her face in thought for a moment before a worried expression returned. "Do you think someone's in the house? Like a squatter? Or a murderer," she gasped and slapped her hands to her cheeks.

"A spiritual squatter, maybe," Dipper replied with a roll of his eyes. He grabbed a folded blanket off the floor and tossed it over his twin in annoyance. "Like a ghost or a poltergeist." He eyed Mabel's covered form, comparing it to cartoonish depictions of ghosts as sheets with eyes; the alien print on the blanket didn't really fit well.

"I'm being serious," Mabel's voice was muffled from under the blanket and she quickly tugged it off. "What if there _is_ someone in the house."

"Mabel, we've been all over the house today." He tossed both his and Mabel's pillow on to the bed. "If there really was a stranger in the house one of us would have wandered into them eventually."

"You don't _know_ that. What if they're waiting around til we're asleep to murder us?"

Dipper opened his mouth, argument on the tip of his tongue, but quickly deflated. This was all his fault; if he had just kept his mouth shut then Mabel wouldn't have gotten all worked up. "Look," he sighed in resignation, "I'll sleep on the side facing the door, so if anything comes they'll have to get through me to get to you."

"Like that'd stop them," she scoffed. Despite her words, her shoulders released their tension. "What are you going to do, say nerd things at them?"

He shrugged back. "I dunno, but I still say it's a ghost." Maybe he had seen too many episodes of Ghost Harassers on UTBAHC, but all the signs seemed to be pointing to a haunting of some sort. If he could prove it maybe the Ghost Harassers team could do an episode on their house? Just the thought of potentially meeting his idols made him even more determined to prove himself right.

Mabel eyed him knowingly with a giggle.

Before he could attempt to defend himself, Anna walked into the room.

"You kids ready for bed," she asked with a tired smile. "It's been a long day and I think we could all do with a little shut-eye."

Dipper unzipped and quickly shucked his jeans, flashing his teal boy shorts for a moment, and then pulled on his usual grey sleeping shorts. He gave his mom a thumbs up.

Mabel reached into her bag and pulled out her nightgown, but made no move to leave the room. Instead, she fidgeted with the fabric and bit her lip; obviously, she was still worried about the possibility of someone being in the house.

Feeling a proverbial lightbulb flicker on, Dipper reached into his bag and pulled out his toothbrush and toothpaste. "Wait, I still have to brush my teeth," he said to the room at large and then turned to Mabel. "Shall we?" Making a show of it, he offered her his elbow to grasp.

"Awww, aren't you just a little charmer," Anna cooed and poked her son's cheek. "You'll make a certain someone feel special someday."

Dipper's cheeks burned- as always, he was incredibly embarrassed by the thought of dating especially when brought up by his mother. It made him feel like he was eight again and talking about his crush on Nancy Drawn from his second grade class.

Mabel giggled. "Such a gentleman," she added and grabbed his arm with rough exuberance. "To the bathroom ball, my royal twin!" There was no time for him to respond because she just dragged him along beside her, humming _Oklahoma_ cheerfully.

When they reached the bathroom she left the door open as she checked under the sink and in the bathtub before she closed it to get changed.

Dipper leaned against the wall besides the door, looking from one end of the hall to the other repeatedly. If there really was a presence in the house he would have to be vigilant to document it. Now was not the time to relax no matter how tired he was... He sighed and rubbed at his eyes; the day had been way too long.

Sure, he had tried to get some sleep on the drive up but he'd always been something of a light sleeper and only managed a few short naps before he gave up. Regret and blurry eyes were his only reward. Maybe just for tonight only he would relax, he decided, get a good night's sleep and then tomorrow he would watch his surroundings like a hawk- this he swore.

As if he'd just given it permission, his brain began to send more sleep signals to his body; he yawned so wide that his jaw cracked and his eyes watered. In his peripheral, he saw his dad walk past the hallway, but he was gone by the time Dipper turned his head for a better look. A thought niggled at him but he easily shrugged it off.

A second later the bathroom door opened, spilling light out into the hallway. Mabel stood in the doorway, dressed in her purple tie-dye nightgown, and already brushing her teeth. Her hair was tied behind her in a loose braid.

Dipper squeezed into the bathroom and quickly set about brushing his own teeth, peering into the mirror blankly. Idly he noted the similarities between his face and his twin's; they could almost pass off as each other if wasn't for the height difference. They both took after their mother rather than their dad, but Dipper had managed to have half a head of height over his sister; he was also a tad broader in the shoulders, but he had never gotten the sort of broadness that came with the Pines family genetics. His body hair was also sparse, never gaining anything like the fur rug his dad across his chest and back- ugh, thank god- and he hadn't had much luck with facial hair despite the fact that they would soon be seventeen at the end of Summer. The few hairs that grew on his lip and chin were more embarrassing than anything else and were quickly shaved off.

Mabel elbowed him out of the way to spit out toothpaste and rinsed her mouth clean.

Dipper did the same as soon as she was done. Together, they left the bathroom and made their way back to the living room and their bed for the evening.

Sitting on the other bed, Anna was curled into their dad, Doug, her forehead resting on his shoulder and their hands clasped together loosely. They were both dressed for bed, she in a modest pale blue nightgown, and him in an A-shirt and his boxers. Doug's thumb ran over his wife's knuckles in a slow, tender motion speaking of familiarity and comfort.

Doug gave them both a boyish grin. "Don't be keeping us old folk up all night, you hear," he joked easily.

"Scout's honor," Mabel promised, holding up three fingers in salute.

Dipper held two up in the traditional boy scout fashion.

"You were never a scout," Anna reminded the twins with a teasing grin, finally pulling away from their embrace to climb into bed.

Mabel made a noise of disagreement, but followed her example. Soon the lights were out and everyone tucked into bed after goodnights were said and good dreams wished for.

Lying curled on his side, Dipper began to count his breaths to calm his mind enough for sleep, though his mind fixated on the sound of everyone breathing. He was used to ignoring Mabel's breathing, but she wasn't usually so close by. Not to mention that Doug's breath wheezed loudly in the silence.

In the safety of the dark, he threw a grimace over his shoulder in the direction of his parent's bed before he switched to laying on his other side, facing Mabel's side of the bed. He sighed again and went back to his counting, losing count somewhere in the fifties and his mind drifting into the haze of sleep-

A sudden, piercing chill swept up Dipper's back, jolting him wide awake. Fucking hell, what was that, he wondered. It felt as if someone had walked over his grave- or he had walked over someone else's. It took his brain a sluggish minute to collect himself and shove the answer to the forefront.

The ghost had been in the room. No, more importantly, it had _touched_ him, he realized as his pulse hammered away. It could still be in the room, _watching_ him and planning its next move. Dipper trembled and drew his limbs in closer under the blanket as if it would offer him some security. In this new house and trapped in darkness, closing his eyes was suddenly quite terrifying; he strained his eyes to see anything in the dark, but he could see nothing.

He didn't get much sleep that night.

* * *

A few notes:

First, I have to give a big thank you to kyogre-blue. She's always willing to let me bounce ideas off her and help me figure out the details of the plot I'm working on. Plus, she gives the best suggestions ever. I'd probably never get anything done without her help.

I have this headcanon that Mabel really likes musicals and plays and liked to perform in them at school. She's not exactly an aspiring thespian but she finds them tons of fun; I imagine as an adult she will sometimes audition at the local theater in her free time and becomes something of a local legend.

I often choose how older!Dipper based on what I want for the story. Sometimes I like him to end up still being rather similar to Mabel, which means he doesn't get very broad or tall. Or sometimes what I want is for him to get those Pines family genetics and end up broad and hairy- it all depends on the story I'm trying to tell.


	2. Chapter 2

I am on fire! *gun noises*

Okay, I'm not actually feeling that proud of myself because the character basically did whatever the hell they wanted and I was just along for the ride. Robbie and then Wendy make an appearance. I did a weird amount of research for the store Wendy works at, haha.

Edit: Since I lost a story follower over it, I added Genderqueer Dipper to the summary to keep people from being surprised.

* * *

Dipper was losing his was the only explanation he could come up with to explain what was wrong with the shack _because things weren't adding up_. It was driving him- in Mabel's words- cuckoo bannanas. He had refused to shower for two days to preserve his modesty against his ghostly watcher, but his mom had all but marched him to the shower that morning; then, after a full breakfast, she pushed him outside with a thermos of coffee and told him to relax.

Now he sat on the front porch, dressed in a pastel purple tank top patterned with dark purple stars and his galaxy print leggings, drinking coffee. He was turning the events of the last few days over in his mind, trying to find some pattern in the madness. For a minute, he thought about fetching his notebook of observations he'd started but decided not to bother.

(He knew he had been something of a menace to his parents over the last few days, tripping over boxes and dropping fragile items because he was so distracted. Let it not be said that he couldn't take a hint- his mom had chased him outside to protect the rest of their china and glass from his negligence.)

Lost in thought, he idly tapped his finger on the thermos. Thankfully, not since the first night, was he awoken by the chill of a spectral touch, though he couldn't guess why it had stopped. Still, sleep did not come easily to Dipper because now there was something _tapping_ on the stained glass window of his room. It wasn't particularly loud but it still spooked him when he heard it while on the verge of sleep. It never lasted long, so he sometimes managed to sleep through it (though the sound would haunted his hazy dreams).

Dipper noticed his own finger tapping and stopped it with a grimace. Stupid ghost had him doing it, too. Best to focus on another bullet point on his list.

While the continued night time activity assured him that there was indeed a ghost in the house, Dipper was beginning to suspect that there really was someone in the house. More than once he had caught a glance of a man walking past hallways or turning corners, but no matter how fast Dipper reacted he couldn't catch the man. When he tried to chase the mystery man he was gone by the time Dipper rounded a corner.

Often, the room the man had left had chairs stacked or things that belonged on the other side of the house. Dipper made sure to clean up these messes before anyone could see them, not wanting he or Mabel to be blamed for it. (A good chunk of third grade was spent with the twins trying to trick their parents into believing their house was haunted. In hindsight, that hadn't been the best use of their time considering they were now living in an actually haunted house). He couldn't figure out why the man would do something so random, unless he had some sort of vested interest in scaring them into leaving.

Dipper hadn't wanted to scare Mabel (or admit that she was right), so he kept it to himself until he was sure he wasn't just seeing things. Then he brought up the man to his parents, only to be surprised that they hadn't seen a thing. No, they hadn't been aware that there was anything weird with about the house- they didn't feel like they were being watched, or heard the voice. Anything not in its place was dismissed as someone else moving it and not a sign of supernatural activity.

That didn't mean they didn't treat his claim seriously. As a unit, they all searched the house from top to bottom, even going so far as to use walkie-talkies, but there was no sign of anyone else in the house. It was like the man had vanished, or perhaps never been there at all; had it just been all in Dipper's head? Was even the ghost a figment of his overactive imagination?

But before he could work himself up into an anxious mess, his dad had gently grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him in dead in the eye. _If you're still concerned we can call the police_ , he promised firmly, _just say the word and we'll all go stay in a motel while they search the house_. His mom and Mabel were quick to approve of this possibility.

Just having that kind of support… it really meant a lot to Dipper. But, he refused the offer in the end, feeling a bit embarrassed about getting everyone involved. He had gotten all worked up about an imaginary intruder and it was all a trick of his mind in response to the stress of the move. Thinking back on it in that moment, it had almost been funny to him. In the light of day it was significantly less funny; if it had all been a hallucination, what did that say about his mental state?

"Stop it," he reprimanded himself, knowing if he wasn't careful he would become convinced he'd developed 3 new mental illnesses. He laid back to starfish on the porch and closed his eyes to begin his deep breathing exercises- his focus narrowed to his chest movements and the air flowing from his nose to his lungs and out again. Every time his thoughts wandered, as they tended to do, he would bring them back to breathing. In and then out; repetition again and again until the tension in his chest went away and his palms were less sweaty.

It was only when he felt the porch shifting under someone else's weight that he opened his eyes.

Mabel leaned over him- bent at the waist to peer down at his face with a wide grin, her face curtained by her long hair. Her sweater was bright and colorful; she usually made her own sweaters but she occasionally bought one if it caught her eyes like the Hiya Kitty-Cat one she was now wearing. Pinned on her chest was a button with a heart colored with stripes of pink, lavender, and blue at the bottom.

Dipper blinked in surprise.

"Awww," Mabel cooed, her hands coming up to cup her own cheeks.

That noise was familiar and it meant she thought Dipper was being particularly adorable at the moment.

Cheeks burning, Dipper shot up into a sitting position. "What," he questioned defensively and crossed his arms.

"Do you want to go into town," she asked, not bothering with poking fun at her twin. Her excitement and energy was obvious as she rocked back and forth.

"What for?" At the lack of teasing he instantly relaxed and stood up so he didn't have to crane his head back to look at her.

Mabel blew a raspberry as if it should be obvious. "Dip, we've been here for _days_ and all we've done is unpack! How are we going to meet anyone if we hide in the shack?" It had been a unanimous decision between them to start calling their new home 'the shack,' and their parents had been quick to pick it up despite trying not to.

"We're not _hiding_ -"

"Come on, broseph!" She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "We got to have fun before we forget how to," she cajoled, releasing him to clasp her hands together. "Please, come have fun with me."

Dipper couldn't help but grin. "Okay, okay. Just let me go grab my wallet."

"Yay," Mabel cheered and threw her hands up in celebration.

Shaking his head, he picked up his thermos and entered the shack. He made a quick detour to the kitchen to leave his thermos in the sink and then he dashed up the stairs to his room. Since he didn't have any pockets, he threw on a dark blue hoodie that he left unzipped and then shoved his phone and wallet into his pockets. Then he pulled on a beanie that matched his hoodie to make sure his big dipper shaped birthmark stayed hidden- no need to give anyone an easy way to tease him from the get go.

After checking in with his parents and being reminded to call them if he and Mabel needed anything, he walked back out onto the front porch.

She was waiting for him, though she had obviously gone back inside to get her purse since it was now hanging across her chest. "All set, bro-bro?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," he sighed and fiddled with his beanie. It was true when he said that they hadn't been hiding away at home, but he wasn't looking forward to meeting new people. At all. He knew from experience that he was horribly awkward when talking to strangers.

"Hey~," Mabel sing songed in a softer tone, bodily slamming herself into Dipper to throw her arm over his shoulder. "We're going to be fine and we're going to have a great time, you'll see. Just give it a chance."

Dipper felt a little tension leave his shoulders and wrapped his own arm around his twin. "Yeah, okay," he mumbled and forced a smile, "let's go."

(Line Break)

For such a hick town, Gravity Falls hosted a surprising amount of businesses and entertainment- including an arcade, cinema, and a laser tag arena. The town even had an actual library, Dipper realized with pleasure; he had expected to be bored out of his mind out in the sticks, but things were looking up.

Mabel was more excited by the mall; that would make it much easier to continue their twin tradition of shopping for clothes together or, as she called it, their bonding time. Though in truth it had all begun because Mabel had lacked in friends who could go shopping with her, so she brought along her twin instead.

Dipper had hated it, at first, not seeing any appeal in waiting around as his sister tried on clothes and showed them off to him; he usually enjoyed spending time with Mabel but this was all terribly dull to him. Then one day out of the blue, she suggested that he try on some of the clothes she had picked out.

The thought of it had made Dipper incredibly nervous; surely that wasn't allowed? He couldn't just walk into a dressing room in a women's department store and try on the clothes, right? Someone would stop him and think him some kind of creeper or something. But when he had tried to tell Mabel that she had pulled the pout- the one that he'd never been able to say no to even once. Just trying to say no had made him feel like he had kicked a puppy, so in the end he folded and went to try on the clothes.

No one had stopped him- he didn't even have to speak with sales rep as he just used the changing room Mabel had left open for him. His cheeks had burned as he slipped the lacy top over his head and then pulled on the ruffled skirt. Peeking at the mirror, he had wanted to instantly find that he looked ridiculous- that this entire thing was a silly waste of time- but he couldn't find it in him to hate it. The outfit was cute and if Mabel was the one wearing it he would have told her so, but he hadn't know how to feel about the fact that he was wearing it.

For the hell of it, he did a little twirl and was unable to resist feeling delighted as his skirt did the thing. Dipper still hadn't wanted to step outside the dressing room. Mabel had to coax him to come out and even then he felt compelled to ask again, voice cracking, _is this really okay?_

The smile she had given him had been both sweet and encouraging, her voice firm as she told him _of course it is._

From that moment on, their shopping trips had become fun for both of them. Dipper's closet got a fair share of feminine clothing among the plain t-shirts and jeans, and he usually chose what to wear by how he was feeling that day.

Not that anyone back at their old school had understood that, so it had been something he did at home mostly. So now here he was wearing his cute clothes out in public, and it was a bit nerve wracking. Small towns weren't known to be the most accepting places and was worried that someone would stop and tell him off. But, besides a few looks, no one bothered the twins their entire journey through town.

Slowly, Dipper let himself relax.

They stopped for lunch at Greasy's Diner- though they shared a bemused laugh at the name- and took a booth seat. The entire building was made of wood, and considering the outside, it was like someone had hollowed out a giant log and put it on its side up on stilts. But besides that the rest of the diner was pretty standard, though not exactly the cleanest they'd ever seen. A plump older woman with big hair was waiting on another table with a smile, wearing a pale pink dress and a somewhat clean apron.

"Isn't this place amazing," Mabel asked and squished her cheeks with her hands until her lips puckered up like a fish. "It's so cute!"

"In what way," Dipper drawled as he looked over the menu. The prices seemed fairly cheap to him as everything was pretty expensive back in California, but the food was pretty standard diner fare.

Mabel stopped squishing her face to pick up her menu. "It's so quaint and old-fashioned, Dipping-Sauce. Like we stepped back into the fifties or something."

"If you say so," he replied with a bemused grin. Even he couldn't always understand what his twin was going on about; despite their closeness they'd never had that twin esp thing people accused them of having. They were very familiar with each other and could read each other quite well most of the time, but that didn't mean they always understood each other's thoughts or interests.

"I'm going to go check out the jukebox!" Mabel fished a twenty out of her purse and jumped from her seat.

Dipper hoped everyone here liked 80's pop because that was all that was going to be playing for a while. Mabel had gained her love of 80's music from their mother and, while she did enjoy some modern music, her first choice would be from that decade.

A server approached their table, but it wasn't the woman they'd seen earlier. Instead it was a teenage boy with black hair and piercings wearing a black button up and grey skinny jeans, his apron looking bright against all the dark colors. His face had a dour expression and his eyes rimmed thickly with eyeliner; he tossed his head to get his bangs out of his eyes.

"What can I get you?" The boredom was obvious in his voice, but at least he wasn't rude. His nametag read Robbie V.

"Can we get a few more minutes?" Dipper asked, glancing over to where Mabel had her face pressed against the screen of the jukebox. "And some water for now."

Another head toss and a look that said 'please don't make this harder for me.' "Sure, I'll get that right out," Robbie said and left.

Dipper rolled his eyes but then set out to ignore Robbie's apathetic attitude. Seconds later, the jukebox started playing 'Don't Start Unbelieving.' Dipper's lips quirked up in amusement and the edge of annoyance in his mood disappeared.

Mabel slid into the booth opposite of him with her own grin, looking proud of herself. "Mission accomplished," she declared with a thumbs up.

Dipper huffed out a laugh. "I'm sure the diner will thank you for your efforts."

"Of course." She picked up her menu again and looked it over with an intense stare.

Robbie returned with their water and Dipper and Mabel gave their orders- a blt club, no tomato and a strawberry shake for Mabel and a cheeseburger, no onion and a Pitt Cola for Dipper. Robbie took their orders with less of his 'why me' expression and left.

Mabel nudged Dipper's foot under the table. "He's kind of cute, don't you think?"

"Not really," Dipper deadpanned, unwrapping both of their straws and putting them in their glasses. From experience, he knew that Mabel didn't really go for goths in general- not because of their looks but because their attitudes tended to be the antithesis of her own. But, he already knew that she wasn't asking for herself.

"Not even a little?" Her expression was disappointed. This was hardly the first time she had attempted to play matchmaker for him; she liked to point out people she thought cute enough for her twin and try to convince Dipper to talk to them.

"No." He took a sip of his water. "Besides, he's probably straight."

"Really?" She half-rose out of her seat to catch sight of their waiter and tilted her head with a considering look. "Huh," she said and slid back into her seat, "I'm no good at figuring that out. Doesn't mean you can't find him cute," she added and took a sip of her own water.

Dipper shrugged.

Mabel rolled her eyes. "Do you want to go window shopping after lunch?"

"At the mall?"

"Maybe," she said sounding uncertain. "I was thinking more like all the little shops on main street?"

Dipper thought back to all the stores they passed on their way to the diner; he hadn't payed much attention to them but he vaguely remembered passing a few clothing stores and some odds and ends stores. And a bookstore.

"Yeah, sounds good to me."

Mabel gave a happy squeal began to list the sort of things she was hoping to find in the stores. Apparently he had missed the antiques and thrift store when they walked past; she enjoyed searching such places to see if anything caught her eye, so much so that their parents made it rule that she couldn't buy anything she wouldn't use in the next few weeks. It kept clutter from taking over their room and house, but it sure made Mabel pout when the rule was instated.

Eventually, Robbie returned with their food and drinks and left it there without asking if they needed anything else. They shrugged it off and dug into their foods.

Dipper grimaced after his first bite; that was definitely onion on his burger. He picked it out with a scowl, looking much like a disgruntled cat.

Mabel laughed with her mouth full to her twin's disgust.

After they ate and left a tip for Robbie (though Dipper was tempted to be stingy because of the guy's attitude, but Mabel wouldn't hear it), they roamed main street. The antique store was cramped and overpacked with antiques, every surface and shelf absolutely covered with vases, figurines, china, and lamps. They had duck in a few places as there were several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and a few hung low. Old, fancy-looking chairs were lined against the walls and ornamental rugs were rolled up and leaned up in the corners. It was a tad overwhelming how many items there were and Mabel had to put her hands on _everything_. Dipper dragged her out when the old shopkeeper started twitching.

The thrift store was much less suffocating. They lost nearly an hour browsing the racks of clothes, passing things between them to judge. Dipper found a black tube top with sleeves that he loved that would hang just off his shoulders, and luckily enough was tight enough he wouldn't have to worry about it falling down due to his lack of cleavage. Mabel found a white sundress with a cartoon pug and heart pattern; she screamed with excitement and made people in the aisles next to them jump. After apologizing, they bought the clothes plus a mug Mabel found with a pug on it; she had to, she insisted, they matched so it must be destiny. Dipper didn't bother to argue with her.

Most places they just looked through the window and moved on until they reached the end of main street and there was only one more shop. _Mystic Falls_ the sign read and, in smaller print, 'Metaphysical Supply Store.' It felt like a sign to Dipper; maybe this would help him with their ghost problem. Mabel was curious enough to follow him.

A bell rang over the door as they stepped inside. Immediately they were hit with a wall of smell that wasn't unpleasant from the mixture of herbs, incense, and candles, but it was rather strong. Tall shelves lined the walls holding rows of labeled bins; several display tables were scattered through the room and at the back there were some glass display cases. A redheaded cashier girl stood behind one, her face hidden behind a magazine and a trapper hat perched on her head; next to her was an open doorway with a beaded curtain- above it was a sign that said 'library.'

Dipper cleared his throat nervously.

The redhead lowered her magazine. "Need some help, buddy?" There was a certain laxness to her body language that made her seem approachable and easygoing.

"Uh," Dipper's voice cracked and he quickly cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'd appreciate that."

She was also really pretty.

"Yeah," Mabel sing songed loudly, "he needs a _lot_ of help." She giggled with wide, knowing smile on her face and nudged him in the ribs.

Dipper closed his eyes and wished he could spontaneously combust from embarrassment because there was no way Mabel could not be any more obvious. He batted at his twin harmlessly to shoo her away before she tried to ask the cashier if she wanted to date him.

Mabel chuckled obnoxiously and all but skipped to a table to look over the statues on it.

The cashier- her name tag read Wendy- just cocked an eyebrow but otherwise didn't react.

After that display, Dipper was grateful for it.

"So what are you looking for," Wendy asked and came out from behind the display case to walk closer. It was only as she got close that it became obvious that she was actually taller than him.

"Um, do you have anything to deal with," he hesitated for a moment, "ghosts?"

"Ghosts." Her brows pinched together in thought. "What, like evil spirits?"

"Yeah," Dipper mumbled and his shoulders slumped slightly; now he wished he had done some research on his own before he came in here so he grab what he needed without giving a reason for them. Now this pretty girl probably thought he was weird.

Wendy reached into her back pocket and pulled out a pocket sized notebook. "I don't have all this memorized so give me a second to see what we got." She began to flip through the pages and squinted at the small handwriting.

"Oh!" The lack of ridicule caused Dipper to instantly perk back up. "Yeah, go ahead," he added with a nervous laugh that was grating to his own ears, so he cut it off abruptly. After a few seconds of silence Dipper felt compelled to ask "So, how's business? I wouldn't expect a place like this to get much business." Again he cursed himself for his inability to small talk.

"You'd be surprised," Wendy replied as she continued to flip pages. "We get a lot of tourists like you here to see Gideon, so they're into this sort of thing."

"Gideon," he couldn't help but ask.

At that, she paused her reading to give him a surprised look. "You don't know?"

"No. We're not actually tourists," Dipper added quickly. "We moved here a few days ago."

"Huh, I heard that a moving truck had passed through, but I'm surprised anyone move here." She gave small smirk and joked, "It's not exactly the entertainment capital of the state." At that she leaned closer to peer at his face closer. "What grade are you?"

"We're going to be Juniors."

"Cool, you'll fit right in with my friends," Wendy said with a grin and stuck out her hand. "Wendy Corduroy."

Dipper made sure to wipe his palm on his pants before he shook her hand. "My name is Dopper- Dipper! I mean, Dipper Pines," he reaffirmed nervously and let go. "That's my sister, Mabel," he added and pointed to his twin who had migrated over to a table piled high with soap.

Mabel waved enthusiastically with both arms. "I like your hat!"

"Well, I like your button," she replied pointing to where it was pinned on her sweater.

Mabel beamed.

Wendy went back to flipping through her notebook. "So where did you guys even move? I haven't seen you around."

"We moved into the shack in the woods," Mabel answered before Dipper could. "You're welcome to visit whenever you want. You could even stay forever if you wanted."

Stop that, Dipper mouthed with glare.

Mabel shrugged with an innocent expression, like she had no idea what she was doing that could annoy her twin.

"That old place," Wendy said absently, reading over something on the page of her notebook. "I didn't think anyone would ever live there…. Oh! I think I found something; black tourmaline is good for deflecting negative energy." She snapped her notebook closed and walked over to a shelf and, rather than grab a step stool, stepped up on a shelf to reach a high up bin and pulled it down. "Bingo- black tourmaline."

"Will that really help?" Dipper couldn't help but be dubious; would a rock really do anything against a ghost?

"I don't know," Wendy said with a shrug, "I'm not really sure I believe in all of this, but it's what we got." She thrust the bin out towards him.

The bin had about two dozen smooth, black stones that were around a size where you could closer your hand around them and have it fit just right. None of them were perfectly round or oval, having wonky edges and imperfections. Dipper stared at them for a second and then looked back up into Wendy's face.

"Which one should I get?"

"Dude," she grabbed his left hand and shoved it in the bin, "just picke the one that feels right."

Mabel made an excited noise from where she was blatantly spying behind her pile of soap, probably seeing the touch as a form of handholding.

Dipper valiantly ignored her, though he blushed a little. He ran his fingers over the stones, not really knowing what the 'right' stone would feel like, and felt a bit silly. Despite his current situation, he wasn't sure he bought into the idea of stones having any special ability or mysticism to them, but it was too late for him to back out now without feeling like he had wasted Wendy's time. So he continued to pick up and drop rocks until he held one with a thumb sized depression in its surface; he couldn't help but rub his thumb back in forth in the divot, finding it kind of soothing- like a worry stone- and was reluctant to drop it.

He supposed that was about as right as the stone could feel in his hands, and pulled back to show Wendy the rock he had picked.

"Nice," she replied dutifully. "You going to want anything else-?"

"Hey," Mabel interrupted loudly, "does this stuff really work?" She held up a heart shaped piece of soap wrapped in red parchment, _Passion_ was written in curling script on the front of it. "A powerful aid in your search for love and passion," she quoted from the label.

Wendy scratched the back of her head, trying not to make a face at the soap. "I don't really know; it's supposed to be used in ritual bathing or some junk, to help with spell casting?" She placed the bin on a table and flipped open her little notebook and flipped to near the front. "Yep, spell junk."

"Oh." Mabel's expression fell and she placed the soap back on the table.

Dipper gave Wendy a hopeless shrug. His twin had always been a hopeless romantic- he would know as he'd been forced to watch romantic comedies with her and rub her back when she cried.

"But," Wendy sighed out with a weak smile, "we do have some incense that could do something like that. Just got to burn it- no ritual junk or spells."

"Really?" Mabel perked up and all but bounced closer to Wendy.

"Yep," Wendy's smile grew stronger at the other girl's enthusiasm and nodded. "You're going to need a charcoal burner, but we got this powder incense…"

Dipper hung back and let the duo walk further into the store; he really didn't want to be a part of that and he figured it was pretty harmless. Instead he focused on the stone in his hand, worrying the depression that had pulled him to this stone in the first place. Would this really help? It wasn't exactly impressive looking though it was cold enough to tingle a little in his palm.

He closed his fist around it; this was better than nothing. After all, he had no other idea what to do because the stars of _Ghost Harassers_ didn't defeat ghosts they… well, harrassed them- tried to prove their existence. And Dipper's collection of books on the occult was rather lacking in information about ghosts, mostly they contained theories on what created ghosts. What lay beyond the veil of life and death and how to commune with the dead. The only suggestions they had to get rid of ghosts was to call a priest or Rabbi to bless the house.

Not exactly within his means at the moment. So he would have to rely on what he had for now.

(Line Break)

Before bed, Dipper gave his stone a saltwater bath like Wendy had suggested, to purify it she said. He did his best to push his doubts aside because sincerity was an important factor in all this. Like he was told, he held the stone in his hand and 'told' it what he wanted, putting all of his belief and willpower into his request.

This will work he told himself and set the stone on his bedside table, turned off the light, and got in bed. The stone gleamed in the small amount of moonlight coming in from the window and Dipper reached across his bed to run his finger over that divot, the action just feeling right to him. He kept it up until his arm because heavy with sleepiness. Only then did he stop and curl his limbs all close to his body.

The room was silent, no tapping coming from his window this night.

Dipper sighed and let his mouth curl into a small, sleepy smile, letting that sense of peace follow him into his rest. He had no dreams that night.

But when he woke the next morning he found his stone broken into jagged pieces.

* * *

Right, there wasn't space to tag this in the summary and I forgot to put it in the notes of chapter 1, but Dipper is genderqueer.

Okay, so I felt like it would be wrong to ignore the fact Dipper finds Wendy cute af, but I'm not going for any one-sided Dipper/Wendy in this fic. Now Dipper is demiromantic and bisexual, so he can be attracted to people but not actually looking for romance without having a strong emotional attachment before hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, this is about half of what I originally intended to write for this chapter, but I thought it better to split it in half. So, there's a lot of talking and setup for the next chapter. More characters are introduced.

Also, I probably won't update this fic during November because I plan to take part in Nanowrimo. Wish me luck (please)!

* * *

The loss of the stone bothered Dipper more than he wanted to admit. Wendy had told him to be sincere so he had been- he had put his faith in the black tourmaline being able to protect him. To say he was disappointed would be something of an understatement. He gathered the shards into the drawstring baggy that usually held his dice for Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons. It didn't feel right to just throw the pieces away, but he didn't really know what to do with it.

He decided to show the shattered stone to Wendy before he did anything else with it. Luckily, she had given the twins her number the day before (which Mabel had teased him about on the way home). He shot off a short text to her and began to gather his clothes for a shower, picking out a faded red henley and black skinny jeans, and grabbed his towel.

He checked his phone to see an invite for him and Mabel to join Wendy for breakfast, to which he agreed and then tossed his phone onto his bed. When he stepped out into the hall he noticed a faintly sweet, musky scent lingering in the air and it took him a few seconds to realize Mabel must have used the incense she had bought. Dipper shook his head with a wry smile and walked down the hall to his sister's room to knock on her door.

"Coming," Mabel called from inside the room followed by something falling over. "Frick!"

"Mabel?" Dipper knocked on the door again. "Are you alright? You're not burning the house down, are you?"

"No! I'm fine!" It took a few seconds but Mabel answered the door, her hair damp and dressed for the day in a plain shirt (that would end up covered by her sweater of the day) and black, floral patterned capris. "What's up?"

Dipper stood up on his tiptoes to peer over her head, noting a mug on its side on the table and a towel thrown hastily in front of it.

Mabel grabbed him by the front of his shirt and tugged him back to standing normally. "Dipper."

"Wendy invited us to breakfast; you want to go," he asked, stepping back to free himself from her grip and then straightened his shirt with one hand.

"Really?" She perked up at that and pushed her hair behind her ear with a smile. "Wait," her smile turned sly, "I'm not intruding on your _date_ , am I? Eh, you sly dog you." At that, she attempted to playfully nudge him with her elbow.

Dipper stepped back out of range, face hot with a blush. "It's not like that," he complained. "She just knows things and works at a store relevant to my interests." Not that Dipper thought saying that would get Mabel off his back; he never really felt any sort of romantic interest in anyone. (Thinking back on it, his childhood crush on Nancy having been more of a flutter of happiness at her treating him nicely. And once she had absorbed the opinion of the class about him, that little bit of happiness was snuffed out in an instant). Now that he was older, he could admit that he found plenty of people attractive- Wendy included- but he'd never felt more than an appreciation for someone's looks (and usually getting flustered by that attractiveness). At this point he wasn't even sure _if_ he could feel that sort of romantic love.

Mabel was convinced he hadn't met the right person yet, someone who he could feel close enough to feel the stirring of romantic interest. Not that she wanted to force him into a relationship if he didn't want one, but she would keep encouraging him until he was sure about his romantic orientation.

"Pshaw," Mabel scoffed but dropped the subject for now. "Yeah, I'll come along."

Dipper nodded. "Okay, I'll be ready in about fifteen minutes."

She nodded and closed her door to finish getting ready herself.

"Fifteen minutes," he emphasized through the door and then turned to continue down the hall to the bathroom. He locked the door behind him and began to undress; it was only when he had his thumbs hooked into his underwear that Dipper remembered his ghostly watcher.

How was it that he had managed to forget that he was being watched? To not notice the feeling of eyes on him, he wondered. His skin broke out into goosebumps and he shuddered- it was amazing what you could get used to. Though, now that he took the time to think about it, even while walking around the town he had the same feeling as when he was in the house, that he was being observed and followed. It struck him as weird; weren't ghosts stuck in one location? Places like their old homes, places where they died, or cemeteries or some such, or was he wrong? Or was this another case of his paranoia getting to him and he only imagined that someone was watching him? He knew the ghost existed but maybe it wasn't watching him like he thought; if that were true it would be a big weight off his mind.

The more he thought of it the more secure he felt about it. Still, he rushed through the process, trying to cover his modesty as much as he could, and only taking the time to shave only his face- not that he shaved anything else that often unless he was in the mood for it. When he tried to race out of the tub, Dipper hit his shin on the rim of the tub and wasted a minute cursing at himself and the tub before he took his time to pull on his clothes. After he brushed his teeth and put on deodorant, he scooped up his dirty clothes and returned to his room.

He dropped his clothes in a corner, telling himself he'll put them in the hamper later. Then he pulled on some socks and slipped on his red spiderman slip ons; he added a short jean jacket that he had sown a few patches on and then his sister had bedazzled along the collar and lapels. On the back she had also bedazzled a pine tree outline as he refused to have his name or the big dipper there for everyone to see. As he did the day before, he pulled on a beanie but chose a black one with little crochet flowers along its brim that his sister had made for him.

After he grabbed his phone, wallet, and baggie with the broken stone, he went downstairs to find his twin talking to their parents in the kitchen.

"-and she's really cute and I think she totally likes Dipper because-"

"Mabel," Dipper yelped, his face burning once more, "we just met her yesterday; there's no way she likes me like that." He knew his twin could see romance in just about everything, but he didn't need it projected on his every interaction.

"Oh, Dipper," Mabel cooed with a slightly patronizing look, "sometimes that's all it takes. You'll understand one day." She was now wearing a sweater, a pastel monstrosity with unicorns on it.

He scowled back at her.

Anna reached up and lightly tweaked her daughter's ear. "Don't tease your brother so much, sweetie." She stood up and walked over to pull her son into a jasmine scented hug. "'Morning, hunny."

Mabel rubbed her ear and then put an abashed smile on her face. "Sorry, Dipdop." Quieter she added, "I still think I'm right though."

Dipper stuck his tongue out at her from over Anna's shoulder.

Playfully dramatic, Mabel dropped her smile with gasp, clutching at her collar as if he offended her delicate sensibilities. Then she stuck her own tongue out, taking it a step further by also hooking her fingers in her mouth to pull it open wider.

Anna stepped back and smooched Dipper's cheek, reaching up afterwards to rub his cheek out of habit even though she had yet to put on her makeup. She was dressed for comfort to work from home in a simple blouse and stretchy pants, as her job as a website designer didn't usually need her to meet her clients face to face.

Dipper pulled a face at both women. "Attractive, Mabes."

"Your face will get stuck that way," Doug added with an amused smile, leaning against the counter with a mug in hand. He was in a robe and slippers, not in a hurry to dress as he also worked from home as a graphic artist. Not that Anna would let him stay that way all day.

Mabel dropped her silly face and planted both hands on her waist. "I'd still be fabulous!"

"Of course," Anna replied and walked over to plant a kiss on Mabel's cheek as well, and rubbed her cheek just as absently. "Now get going you two; don't keep your friend waiting."

"Yes mom," the twins chorused.

"Let us know when you'll be home," Doug added with a bit of sternness.

"Yes dad," they managed to say in sync again.

"Oh!" Doug suddenly perked up as if remembering something. "Since you'll be in town, mind making some copies and deliver them to the bookstore? I have a lot of work to get done, so there's fifteen bucks in it for you both," he added with a crooked grin.

"Deal," Mabel agreed in an instant. They got an allowance every week if they had done their chores but as it was only fifteen dollars a week, they were usually eager for an opportunity to earn more.

Doug set down his mug and walked out of the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, "Great, I'll go get it."

Dipper sighed and pulled out his phone to text Wendy.

 **To: Wendy**

 **We need 2 get copies. b a ltl l8**

Then he shoved his phone back in his pocket before he could be tempted to correct it and type the message out fully; he had picked up some text speak from his twin, but part of him always cringed when he used it. (Mabel told him it was his inner nerd crying out in pain).

A moment later he felt his phone vibrate and had to take it back out.

 **From: Wendy**

 **kk**

It wasn't much for Dipper to go off of; should he apologize for the delay, he wondered. Or was it just an acknowledgement of his text? Choosing to take it as the latter, he put his phone back in his pocket.

Hopefully this errand wouldn't keep Wendy waiting long.

(Line Break)

Their dad had handed them the flyer in a folder to keep them from creasing it, gave them both their promised reward and the money to pay for copies, and then they were out the door. The Gravity Falls copier store wasn't located on Main Street, but it wasn't that far down a side street from it.

The store wasn't very big- what with most of the building being used to hold all the equipment in the backroom- but there were a few displays with examples of things they could make. There were calendars, mugs, t-shirts, and more, or so their banner proclaimed- another example of what the store could handle. Posters and flyers covered the walls in a mural of projects, some of them laminated and not, and all were colorful with upbeat and quirky statements on them. Overall, it was a rather cheerful store which included the copier technician.

He was a big, hispanic man with prominent front teeth, giving him something of a gopher appearance; his expression was open and friendly, and he had a sparse amount of facial hair along his chin and upper lip. On his shirt, a name tag simply said 'Soos.'

"What can I help you doods with," he asked with a boyish grin, resting a large arm on the small counter, and tilted up the brim of his cap.

"Uh, hi," Dipper said haltingly, an automatic response as he tried to gather his thoughts. As always, the act of starting social interaction created a flare of panic that swept aside all rational thought- all he needed was a few seconds for it to pass.

"Hey, nice to meet you dood," he said cheerfully and offered his fist for a bump, taking it as a genuine greeting.

"Um, you too?" Dipper reached over and bumped his fist against Soos' fist timidly.

Soos made exploding noises with his mouth as he pulled back. "My name's Jesus Ramirez, but everyone calls me Soos."

"I'm Dipper," he replied with a bemused half-smile. "Dipper Pines." With the man's friendly, open attitude it felt as if he'd been automatically accepted as a friend despite not having said a full sentence yet. Dipper was a tad blown away by Soos, feeling as if he'd been swept up in a bear hug with just the man's sunny disposition; the only other person who managed such a feat was his own twin.

"Me next," Mabel cheered and bounced closer to the counter and offered her own fist to bump. When Soos bumped her back, she made a few different explosion noises before she managed to reign in her enthusiasm. "I'm Mabel Pines, nice to meet 'cha."

"Same, hambone." Soos tilted up his hat to beam at both of them. "You must be the new doods who move into that creepy shack in the woods."

"Yep!"

Dipper frowned. "How did you know that?"

"Word gets around fast in this town," he answered easily with a shrug. "Everyone's just excited to have new neighbors is all."

"Oh." Dipper shuffled a little in embarrassment. "That makes sense."

Soos chortled with good humor. "What can I do for you little doods? You can't have come to see ol' Soos."

Dipper opened up the folder and put the flyer on the table in front of Soos. The flyer was professional but cheerful, with easy to read script and a somewhat fancy border on the top and bottom; along the sides were tiny books lining the words in the center.

"That's pretty nice," Soos complimented. "Do you want it as a poster? Or maybe on a hanging banner?" He snapped his fingers as if he got a brilliant idea. "Postcards, right?"

Mabel 'ooh'd and 'aww'd at the suggestions, pressing her hands against her cheeks. "Is there anything you can't do here?"

Soos hummed and rubbed his chin, clearly attempting to recall what they didn't do.

"Nevermind that," Dipper interjected, "we just need a hundred copies of the flyer." He pulled out a sticky note that was stuck to the inside of the folder he had been carrying. "These are the specifications dad asked for."

Soos took the sticky note and looked it over. "Oh, that'll be easy peasy-"

"Lemon squeezy," Mabel finished with a cheer.

"Yeah!" The big man offered his hand up for a high five.

Mabel obliged him with a full force smack of her hand to his- she hardly knew the word 'restraint.'

"Woah, strong aren't you, hambone." Soos grin turned slightly bemused and he shook out his hand to get feeling to return to it. Then he picked up the flyer and turned to walk into the back room. "This'll be done in a jiffy," he called but then added in a quieter voice, "or is it giffy?"

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other, shrugged, and then moved to separate side of the building to look at the displays of items. Mabel headed for the calendars and Dipper headed towards the mugs.

At random, Dipper picked up one of the mugs and brought it up to eye level- it was a plain white mug and on the side there was Gravity Falls in big blocky letters, and inside the letters there was a glimpse of a scenic forest scene. Dipper tipped the mug over to look at the bottom- $4.99 was on a bright orange sticker.

He put it back down and picked up another one- this time a cute cat held on to a branch as its bottom half dangled down; across the bottom and top it read 'Hang on to that branch cat OR DIE.' Even though he felt he shouldn't, he still gave a short laugh at that.

Behind him, the door of the shop opened and then closed, but Dipper didn't bother to check out who had entered. He picked up another mug only to find the face of some chubby pre-teen on it, with tall white hair and the fakest smile Dipper had ever seen. With a frown, he put that one down carelessly but that sent it tumbling to the carpeted floor and behind the shelf.

With a curse, he knelt down beside the shelf and carefully, slowly edged the shelf forward to give him room to reach behind it- it rattled a bit but nothing fell off. Dipper turned himself so he was facing the wall and could wedge his shoulder between the shelf and wall to give himself more reach; that put himself just in range to grab the mug by its handle, but Dipper paused mid-grab. On the wall, shallowly scratched into the plaster was the Eye of Providence- the edges were jagged to the point it looked like someone had scratched it there with their nails. It sent a cold shiver down his spine because it almost felt like he was making eye contact with someone, that it would suddenly blink and break their staring contest.

Dipper slapped his palm over it. That was just his imagination, he told himself firmly; so he found an illuminati symbol in this town, there was nothing too eerie about that, right? Probably just some teenager looking for a bit of fun out here in the sticks- who ever consider that fun he wondered, but then pushed that thought away.

Out of curiosity, he lined himself up with the symbol and looked back out at the shop. It gave a pretty good view of the entire front room of the place, including the girls he could see talking to his sister. Dipper turned back towards the wall and moved his hand away from the eye reluctantly; he couldn't just sit behind this shelf all day. He grabbed the mug and moved to get out from behind the shelf.

A trio of screams pierced the air.

Dipper jolted, knocking his head into the shelf. Everything rattled loudly and Dipper swore just as loud. With agitated movements, he escaped from behind the shelf to see who was screaming and why.

Two girls and Mabel were talking to each other excitedly, passing a calendar between themselves and pointing at it emphatically. They all had big, dreamy smiles on their faces and giggled to each other secretly.

One of them was an asian girl with straight black hair that hung around her shoulders- a Venture Tyme barrette kept her hair out of her face. She was skinny as a rail and tall even though she slouched a bit; she wore rimless glasses and dressed in a flattering but plain shirt, a dark skirt, and white tights. As she laughed she would cover her mouth with her hand. The other girl was tall, too, but also broad and muscular. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her short bangs kept out of her face with a plain pink barrette. The pink top she wore clung to her wide shoulders and flat chest, not that the girl seemed to notice or care; she wore blue jeans with little flowers embroidered on the pockets and pink sandals.

They were both cute but in a more subtle way than how Wendy had wowed Dipper with her looks, but he still chose to hang back and not make things awkward by just being himself. He returned the mug that had caused him so much trouble and pushed the shelf back into place. For reasons he couldn't explain, he shuffled around the items until it had blocked the Eye of Providence from view. That done he glanced back at Mabel to see her exchanging numbers with the girls, which brought a smile to Dipper's face.

It was then that Soos returned from the back room carrying a small stack of papers.

"Boom," the man said and placed the flyers on the counter, "one-hundred flyers, still hot from the copier." He pat the pile with a grin.

"Thanks, Soos," Dipper replied as he walked over to the counter as well. He paid and soon he and his twin were leaving with waves to both Soos and the girls- (according to the goodbyes his sister gave)- Candy and Grenda.

(Line Break)

Overall, that detour took longer than Dipper liked, but Wendy didn't seem to be bothered when they finally arrived at the diner. The twins joined her at the booth seat and Dipper apologized for keeping her waiting, but Wendy easily waved it off. Everyone took a minute to look over the menu in silence.

Wendy was done first and put down her menu. "So, what's up?"

"Breakfast," Mabel replied with the lilt of a question in her tone. After all, she had only heard that they'd been invited to eat with Wendy.

Before Dipper could answer, their waitress came to the table. She was the same older lady they had noticed the day before with the big hair- Susan; on a closer look at her, she wore a thick amount of blue eyeshadow and wore bright red lipstick. When she smiled she had small bit of lipstick on her teeth. Her nails were long and painted the same shade as her lipstick.

"What can I get you cuties," she asked with a warbling voice and winked playfully.

Wendy ordered the lumberjack breakfast, which had three different types of meat, two eggs, hashbrowns, and pancakes. Dipper couldn't help but stare at her; where did it all go? Wendy had some muscle to her but she still had a willowy figure. The twins both ordered pancakes, though Mabel asked for whipped cream and sprinkles on hers; both Dipper and Wendy ordered coffee and Mabel asked for milk.

"I'll be back," Susan promised as she left to pass their orders on to the chef.

Once the woman was out of hearing range, Dipper blurted out with his usual social grace, "It broke."

"Huh?" Wendy cocked an eyebrow at Dipper for a second before understanding dawned on her face. "Oh. Did you drop it or something?"

"Drop what," Mabel butted in and leaned her elbows on the table.

"My rock," Dipper replied and reached into his pocket for the baggie. "The stone I bought yesterday- and no, I didn't drop it." He waved it in front of his face and jiggled it around so they could hear the sound of multiple piece knocking into each other.

Wendy took the baggie and looked into the bag, whistling at how many pieces there were. She passed it to Mabel when the girl made grabby hands.

"I woke up and it was like that on my nightstand," Dipper insisted and reached up to fiddle with the bedazzle stones on his jacket, letting his thumb rub over them as a minor distraction from his nerves. "I did everything like you said I should." Right now he wished he had the stone again; it had been a rather good worry stone and he wished he could soothe himself with the repetitive motion.

Mabel reached into the bag and pulled out one of the shards to hold it up to the light coming from the window. There were hairline cracks on the stone as if it had been crushed under something heavy.

"And you think it was the ghost," Wendy asked without judgement in her tone. "How are you sure?"

"Well," Dipper began only to shut his mouth as Susan arrived with their drinks.

She set them on the table and added a pile of single serving creamers between Dipper and Wendy. "Just holler if you need a refill," Susan said and patted Dipper's hand in a motherly fashion.

He was vaguely reminded of his grandma Verona in that moment, and offered a shy smile to the woman. Dipper wasn't used to affection outside his family but this town just offered friendly stranger after friendly stranger.

Susan cooed and moved on to the next table.

"Can't you still use these," Mabel asked as she dropped the piece she was holding back into the bag. "It was probably part of a bigger piece of rock that got broken up to make the small ones."

Wendy shrugged. "I dunno."

"Anyways," Dipper said, trying to get back on track, "what else could it have besides the ghost?"

"I'm not saying there isn't a ghost," Wendy replied in a soothing tone, "but there are wacked out legends about things in those woods, man." She pointed to the baggie. "It might have been something else that smashed your rock."

Dipper floundered. "But, I- what? That's…." He tugged his beanie down as if it would help him gather his thoughts.

Leaving the bag on the table, Mabel reached over to rub circles on his back, something she knew usually helped her twin to calm down. "Well, how do we figure out who smashed my brotato's rock?"

"Brotato?" That was enough to snap Dipper out of his thoughts and he turned his head to stare at his sister. "What's a brotato?"

"That's you, broski," Mabel replied and booped him on the nose. "Obviously."

"Obviously," Dipper repeated with a sarcastic tone added. He fixed his beanie so it wasn't about to cover his eyes. "She has a point though, how would we even find out if something else did it? It's not like we have cameras set up at the shack."

"I'm not an expert," Wendy replied and leaned back in her seat, grabbed her mug of coffee, and drained half of it in one go without adding cream or sugar. Then she set the mug back down to smirk and ask, "But why don't you ask your ghost?"

"Ask the ghost," the twins parroted back as one, both clearly bewildered by the idea.

"How would we do that," Dipper added, thinking of his favorite show and how the would yell questions in the dark waving around their audio recorders and other gadgets. "Would we need an EMF meter or maybe…."

"Nah, none of that," Wend interjected easily and waved it off with an actual motion of her hand. She leaned forward conspiratorially, resting her elbows on the table. "I'll show you when get to the shop."

"Wait," Mabel drawled the word out, "are you supposed to be at work right now?"

"Tambry's covering for me." Wendy said blithely, finishing off her first cup of coffee. "It's cool."

At that, their conversation turned to more normal things as they waited for their orders. Susan was prompt with refills and very friendly. When their food arrived, Dipper found that his pancakes had strawberries halved to act as eye on the top and bacon to be the smile- his breakfast was smiling at him.

"Enjoy," Susan declared loudly with a smile. "Let me know if you youngsters need anything."

"Thanks, Susan," Wendy said with a small smile.

Dipper and Mabel were quick to add their own thanks on top of that and digged into their food. Dipper let the conversation flow over him and only interjected occasionally to add a comment, but for the most part he was content with just listening to the girls chat. As they finished off their meals the conversation turned towards the town's Pioneer Day where the townsfolk dressed up in old-timey clothes to celebrate the day Gravity Falls was founded. Wendy explained it with the air of someone who didn't find it at all exciting. In a week they would set out all the booths and tents along Main Street, going so far as to travel by horse drawn, covered wagons.

Mabel was ecstatic about the idea- she even had her own pioneer dress from a play at their old school (though she would most likely end up making a new dress for the occasion). And, of course, she would make an outfit for her twin to wear to the event and probably even their parents if they could take the time away from work. She bounced in her seat, sparkles in her eyes as she pictured the sort of clothes she would make and what they would do that day.

When they finished eating they paid their bill, splitting it three ways, and then left a generous tip for Susan. They waved goodbye at Susan's boisterous goodbye and 'come back soon,' then they made their way to _Mystic Falls._

* * *

 _Please leave me a review if you enjoy this fic :)._


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